Your desk mate dwight
by Yakoas59
Summary: I know this has been done before, however I want to put my spin on the start of Jim Halpert's Dunder Mifflin Career, before the start of the Documentary.
1. Dunder Mifflin Scranton

_Yakoas 59_

**Part one: Meeting Michael Scott**

Jim Halpert looked out of his car window at a relatively warm and pleasant September morning. He was heading towards his new job as a paper salesman at a company called Dunder Mifflin, which in truth he was dreading. This is technically his first job after leaving university before the summer, and he didn't know how he was going to cope in a 9 to 5 job every day. He didn't know if anyone was going to like him, and by the way his interview went a couple of weeks before, his boss was going to be difficult to deal with. Mostly however, he was worried about having to wear a stupid tie. He confided in his roommate, Mark about his concerns about his new job, but he told him that this job would only be short-term thing and it isn't like he is going to be working there for the next 10 years so there would be nothing to worry about.

He pulled his Toyota Corolla into the parking lot, and a rather dull, monotonous building came into his line of sight. There was a short, middle aged black guy walking into the building and Jim wondered if he was going to be one of his new co-workers. He looked at his watch, which read 8:50AM. "_Thank god I'm not late." _Jim thought, as he recalled the rush he had to get to his new job as he slept through his alarm. Jim walked into the office building whilst straightening his blue tie, and nodded towards the security guard, who barely noticed that he strolled past him. As he stepped off the elevator, he stood and looked at the Dunder Mifflin sign for a couple minutes before mustering the courage to open the door. As he walked through, he came into view of the receptionist, who was cute but had a dazed look on her face as she stared at her desk in front of her. She had her hair tied up in the bun, and when she noticed Jim she smiled, which made Jim instinctingly smile back. "_Man she is cute" _Jim thought to himself.

"Hey, you must be Jim." The receptionist said to him.

"Yes, I'm Jim… This is my first day… you are?" Jim stuttered.

"I'm Pam Beesly. I'm the receptionist. It's a very exciting job as you could imagine," Pam Smiled.

Jim laughed. "How long have you been working here?"

"Um, about-"

"WHAZZAAAAAP!" Yelled a shortish man whilst making a bleeping sound as he walked towards him, before straightening himself up before declaring. "I am Michael Scott, Emperor of this orfice. Welcome to our humble of oud!" gesturing to the office in front of him. There was a dead silence which surrounded the room, before an unnecessary loud cough broke it, "You must be Jim Halpert, or do you prefer Jimothy? James? Jimbo?"

"Call me Jim," Jim smiled, glancing at Pam, who was giggling into her hands, looking at him and mouthing the name, "_Jimbo." _

"Listen up peeps!" Michael called. "This is Jim Halpert and he is joining our sales team, so I expect you all to make him welcome to our little home. Actually, Conference room, 10 minutes! Be there! Welcoming Jim session." Michael spinned into his office, humming to himself, leaving Jim and Pam grinning at each other.

"Well…that was interesting." Pam concluded.

"To say the least." Jim responded, making her smile at him. _Damn she has a pretty smile. _Jim thought. "Um….. Where am I sitting?" Jim asked her, inspecting the office and silently hoping that it was near to her.

"Right over here," she responded, getting out of her chair and lead him a few feet towards a small desk, near Michael's office. "Oh I nearly forgot." Pam remembered. "Enjoy this moment, because you're never going to go back to this moment before you met your desk mate Dwight."

"Can't wait." Jim responded with a smile. "Thanks Pam,"

"No problem, see you later."

Almost on cue, a relatively tall, beady eyed man with dark rimmed glasses and sleeveless mustard yellow shirt walked in, before spotting Jim at the desk from the bathroom. "Hello, you are?" Dwight asked to Jim, frowning.

"Hey, I'm Jim Halpert I'm the new sales rep." Jim said, offering his hand out for a handshake.

"Ok, let's get this straight Halpert," Dwight remarked with a chuckle, "I am better than you, older, physically superior to you and I am also Michaels number two and will be for the rest of time, so basically I am saying that," Dwight's smirking face turned deadly serious, "I could destroy you and there would not be anything you could do about it. Apart from that, welcome to Dunder Mifflin! I am thoroughly looking forward to working together." Dwight concluded, and accepted Jim's outstretched hand before sitting down at your desk.

Jim looked over slowly at Pam, shocked and was amazed at this encounter. She was smiling at him, and he grinned back. _"I think I am going to like it here." _

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	2. End of Day 1

_Yakoas 59_

_**Chapter 2: Good first day**_

"Everyone in the Conference room, right now!" Michael announced to the office, and waited for everyone to file into the conference room before saying," As you know, we have been graced with the presence of Jim Halpert, the tall handsome guy I know you have all been checking out, I know I have been," Michael chuckled before being met with an overwhelming silence. Jim frowned at Michael, concerned before getting nudged by Pam and she raised her eyebrows at him. "Ok…. Tough crowd. Introducing… Jim Halpert!" there were claps echoing throughout the room as Michael forced Jim to stand up. Jim stood up in front of everyone, awkwardly before announcing,

"Um… I'm Jim Halpert and I am from Scranton, and I recently graduated from Scranton University, I am a big 76ers fan."

"Do you have a girlfriend?" asked Michael.

"No, I recently broke up with my girlfriend in the summer. So, no." Jim replied.

"Ok, anything else you want to say Jim? Oh, oh how about you tell us something you have never told anyone before." Michael beamed.

"Um, no I'm not going to do that," Jim smiled nervously.

"Does anyone have any questions?" Michael asked everyone.

"What high school did you go to?" Asked a woman who he thinks her name is Phyllis.

"Uh, West Scranton high," Jim responded, unsure where this was going.

"Michael and I went to that high school," Phyllis revealed, smiling at her co-workers.

"Wait, what?" asked a Latino man he didn't know.

"I don't think anyone is interested in that, not important. I think that was a successful meeting, and just for Jim, I have a little video for Jim just to welcome him here."

Jim looked at his watch, which read 4:07 PM. He reflected from a day that went better than he expected. The Blair witch project parody video starring Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute where Michael pretended to be frightened about things people do in the office was definitely interesting, and also everyone seem to take a liking to him, especially Michael and Jim didn't know whether or not he should be pleased or concerned about this. Pam the receptionist had been especially nice, and they shared a laugh at lunch, Jim was considering asking her out after a few more days. They had seemed to click instantly and the fact that she sat so near to him, made it easy to find excuses to talk to her.

Dwight, had been annoying Jim all day, particularly when he invited him to 'the gun show' and kissed his biceps, made Jim cringe in embarrassment. As Jim didn't have any work to do, he strolled up to reception and said to Pam," hey, Dwight is being kinda annoying and I was wondering if you wanted to play a prank on him."

"Um, I don't know…..Yes definitely what do you have in mind?" She asked, smiling up at him.

"I was wondering, after work we could put air horn to the bottom of his chair, so whenever he sat down it would set the horn off." Jim plotted.

"Jim that is genius." Pam said to him, "however, I don't think I can do after work."

"Huh, why not, is there anything more important than messing with Dwight?" Jim responded.

"No, it's just my boyfriend Roy said that we are leaving ten minutes early today, to meet his brother Kenny and I kinda have to be there." She said and Jim detected that she was uncertain about it. The fact that she had a boyfriend bothered him, because he had definitely noticed some chemistry between them. He put on a smile, before responding quickly,

"Ok, have a great time, looking forward to meeting Roy." Jim lied before continuing, "Uh, Pam I just want to say thanks, for helping me around today. I really appreciate it." He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"No problem, you're a nice guy. I am happy your work here." She responded with a nervous smile, and then looked down at her desk, grinning slightly to herself.

About 40 minutes later of pretending to do work and staring into space, a tall guy with a warehouse uniform walked into the office and went straight to reception. Jim watched out of the corner of his eye, as he leered at Pam, making her laugh. He tried to impatiently get her to leave, and Jim watched her leave. She turned back as she remembered, and said, "Hey Roy, this is Jim he is the new guy here, Jim, Roy." She said, before they shook hands.

"What's up man," Roy said to Jim in greeting.

"What's up?" Jim smiled.

"So I guess I'll see you tomorrow then Jim." Pam said. "Hope you had a good first day."

"Yeah, thanks see you tomorrow." Jim said as he watched the pair leave.

"_And the day was going so well…" _Jim thought to himself.

"Hey Jim, do you want to go out and have drinks later?" Michael asked him.

"Ur, no can't I'm donating blood." Jim said, thanking himself for the close save.

"Oh, Ok that's very gallant of you. If you're free, hit me up, Kapeesh or you're fired."

"What?" Jim said shocked at this comment, before Michael burst out laughing.

"Hahaha I so got you, you should have seen your face," Michael barely got this out through his giggles. A shaken Jim looked back at him, highly unimpressed. "Ok for real, I'm free anytime, "Michael said before he walked out the door, "Have a good night."

Jim followed him in suit a couple of minutes later, looking forward to another day at Dunder Mifflin.

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	3. Pam

Your** desk mate Dwight**

Yakoas 59

_Chapter 3:_ Pam_  
_

Pam was excited at the prospect of a new employee, as she always liked to have fresh blood in the office. She liked to have someone else to talk to than Angela and Michael. She went to work optimistic about the new day, before she realised that she had to go to get drinks with Roy and his brother Kenny. She always seemed out of the loop with those two, as she does not seem to be a part of their conversations and she normally would have to make an excuse to leave early so she would not have to sit alone the whole night. It was times like this, she would feel lonely.

Pam has to be one of the first people to be in the office so she can take any early calls. There was no calls, and Pam was bored, so much so that she was spaced out, staring at her desk when a tall, good looking guy wearing a navy blue suit with a matching tie, walked through the door. Pam smiled at him, and he smiled back. "Hey, you must be Jim Halpert."

He stared at her, before replying, "Yes I'm Jim, this is my first day….you are?"

_He's so nervous, it's kind of sweet. _"I'm Pam Beesly, the receptionist here. It's an incredibly thrilling job as you could imagine." Pam implied, and Jim laughed. She smiled back at him, before he was whisked away by Michael.

To be honest, it was Pam's best day at work in a long time. There now seemed to be a normal person in the office that she worked in, and he was funny and easy to talk to. They shared a table for lunch.

"Nice sandwich, ham and cheese is the best." Pam said as she sat opposite Jim, who was sitting alone. Pam pulled out her own cheese sandwich.

"You've got a good taste." Jim told Pam.

"Thanks. How's your first day going?" She asked.

"It was going well until Michael said that he had been checking me out. I definitely didn't need to know that." He said, making Pam laugh. "Is he normally like this? I need to know, whether or not I should get the hell outta here." Jim stated making Pam laugh.

"This is one of his good days, so you better watch out Halpert." Pam told him, matter of factly.

"What have I gotten myself into" Jim, said dreamily.

"You have no idea." Pam told him, making him smile.

"Ok, Pam I've got a question for you." Jim asked her.

"Ok, shoot."

"If you had to erase Han Solo or Indiana Jones from film forever, who would you take away?"

"C'mon you can't do that to me. Two of the best characters ever."

The conversation kept on going for at least another 20 minutes. They talked about TV, high school and generally they got to know one another. Pam enjoyed talking to him as they seemed to have a lot in common. Pam hadn't had a pleasant conversation with anyone in a long time.

The day, apart from Jim's arrival was pretty ordinary. Nothing happened except from that Kevin beat his previous record in seeing how many m&amp;m's he could put in his mouth. Pam was drawing when Jim walked up to her desk, and asked, "Do you want to play a prank on Dwight." Pam beamed at this prospect and responded," um….yes definitely what do you have in mind?"

As Jim explained his plan, before asking Pam whether or not she wanted to help prepare the prank after work. Pam realised that she could not do it with him. She had to go with Roy and his brother Kenny to have drinks after work, where she often felt like she was the third wheel. Sometimes she didn't get Roy. Sometimes he was romantic, and was good to her, and other times he completely ignored her and didn't let her do anything she wanted to do. Taking this all in, Pam told Jim, "No, it's just my boyfriend Roy said that we are leaving ten minutes early today, to meet his brother Kenny and I kinda have to be there." She told him regretfully. Pam noticed that his expression dropped, and he looked disappointed.

"Don't worry about, it. You'll get to see how the prank pans out. I am looking forward to meeting Roy by the way." Jim said before continuing, "Uh, Pam I just want to say thanks, for helping me around today. I really appreciate it." He smiled at Pam, and she naturally smiled back at this kind comment. Pam responded, happy that he said that,

"No problem, you're a nice guy. I am happy your work here." She responded with a nervous smile, and then looked down at her desk, grinning slightly to herself. She looked up and saw that he was grinning at her, before excusing himself to make a sales call. Pam blushed slightly to herself as she watched him sit down. She saw Angela watching her as she did this, so she pretended to be busy to save her embarrassment.

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	4. Healthcare

_**Your Desk Mate Dwight**_

_Yakoas 59_

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the office, but I wish I did!_

Chapter 4: Jim and Healthcare

Several weeks had past after Jim's first day at Dunder Mifflin. He was slowly becoming used to the everyday events that happened throughout the office. For example, Michael would be tend to have meetings about pointless things, which did not have anything to do with work at all. A couple of days before, Michael set up a meeting all about friendship. This was very painful for Jim because Michael included him, as 'one of his closest friends' and even made a friendship bracelet for him. Pam, who thought this was hilarious, used this as an excuse to torment Jim.

"Jim, that's so sweet, you're going to wear it every day so you can think of Michael whenever you look at it?" Pam teased, loudly from reception as Michael was walking past. Michael turned around, and had a beaming smile on his face.

"You really like it? Look, I made a matching one for me too," Michael told him, revealing a tatty bracelet to him. "By the way do you want to have drinks tonight, you can bring your bracelet. We can be bracelet bros." Michael asked. Pam, was concealing her laughter behind her desk, as she watched Jim trying to think of an excuse as why he could not go. In the corner of his eye, Jim saw a haunted look on Dwight's face, as he realised what was going on.

"Um…. No sorry I can't tonight Michael it's my grandmother's birthday. Another time?"

"Yeah, sure I'm free whenever." Michael said, before wandering into his office, slightly disappointed.

"I'll have drinks with you Michael." Dwight pleaded. Michael looked at him, before responding uncertainly,

"Sure Dwight." Michael said, unsure.

After Michael retreated into his office Jim told Pam grinning" I hate you." before walking to his desk.

Every year, the company needed new healthcare, and Michael had to choose a new plan. At any other office, this would not be a problem but at Dunder Mifflin Scranton, it was Michael Scott who had to pick the plan. He spent all day, trying to decide which the best plan was for his employees, without really getting anywhere. Truthfully though, he didn't want to make the decision at all because he thought that everyone would hate him if he chose the wrong plan. He decided to call in Pam for help.

"Pamster!" Michael yelled from his office. Pam, sighed before walking into his office and sitting down.

"Help me." Michael told her.

"Michael I need to know what you need help with in order to help you." Pam said.

"Oh, right. Basically I need to choose a healthcare plan. I want to choose the best one, but I also want to save the company money, because it means that I will get a bigger bonus at Christmas. You can see the dilemma here." Michael told her, putting his head in his hands.

"Well, it if was me I would pick the same ones as we had last years, as it was like kinda in the middle."

"Do you think that's what they want, Pam." Michael said accusingly. "Those people, out there want the best of the best. There's some big personalities out there." He changed tact, "I guess I can do it, and I will have to see how they react. Thanks Pam."

"What did he want?" Jim asked Pam as she walked out of Michael's office, after this quick conversation.

"He needed help with choosing a new health care plan. " Pam replied.

"Ok, can you Fax these for me, "Jim enquired, handing her a bunch of paper.

"Sure. How has your ongoing prank on Dwight going?" Pam asked him, sitting on the edge of his desk.

"Great, actually. Every day I have been putting, stuff in his work phone, making it slightly heavier every day. Not as good, as the one with the air horn though."

"No, that was hilarious." Pam said, laughing as she recalled Dwight's puzzled expression as an air horn went off as he sat down at his chair.

"I was thinking-"Jim was cut off by Roy walking into the office.

"Hey guys, how is it going?" Roy smiled, putting his arm around Pam. "What you talking about?"

"Jim has an ongoing prank going on with Dwight right now. We're just deciding what to to do to make it better." Pam told him, as she leaned into him.

"Great, that guy is a massive jackass. What prank are you doing on him?" He asked Jim.

"Ur….. Pam you tell him, I am going to use the bathroom." Jim lied, as he left their flirtatious company.

Over the past few weeks, Jim had highly enjoyed being in Pam's company. She was funny, pretty, and they shared a lot in common. It pained him that she had a boyfriend, who obviously didn't make her happy. He used little excuses so he could go up to reception and talk to her. It was his favorite part of the day, in a very, very boring job.

He hadn't told anyone yet, but his birthday was in 3 days' time. He didn't want to have any fuss about it. He was having a small get together with his college friends, and he was looking forward to that. Truthfully however, he would prefer spending that time with Pam.

"Hey, Pamalangadingdong!" Michael yelled to her from his office. Pam got out of Roy's grasp and walked into Michael's office, uncertaintly

"I am going with that plan, but just in case things get heated out there, I think that we should have a little party to lighten the mood." Michael told her.

"What, like a birthday party, I didn't think we had any birthdays coming up" Pam responded.

"Well, on Thursday its Jim's birthday and I think that we should have a little celebration about it. I thought you would know when his birthday is, you're good friends right?"

Pam was suprised at this sudden revelation and told Michael, smiling,

"Yeah, we are friends. But I think that we should have the birthday party on his actual birthday, like a surprise party. He obviously didn't want anyone to know that it was his birthday."

"Good point, let's do that." Michael said, smiling.

Roy was gone when Pam went into Michael's office, and Jim finally went to his desk when he saw that Roy was no longer in the office. He saw one of the mixed berry yogurts he brought in for Pam, had turned expired. He was going to throw it out, when he got interrupted by Kevin, who wanted to talk to him about the eagles, and how they had been kicking ass recently.

Several, long boring hours later consisting of small talk with Dwight and fiddling with his pencils, Jim noticed Pam opening a mixed berry yogurt. After coming to the realization that it was the one that had expired, he dashed towards her desk, before telling her quickly, "this might sound weird, and there's no reason for me to know this, but that mixed berry yogurt you're about to eat has expired." Pam looked at the label at the side, and saw this was true. "Just thought that you would like to know." Jim told her, before walking slowly, and awkwardly towards his desk. He felt Pam's eyes on his back as he did so, and when he sat down he returned her wide smile. _She's beautiful _Jim thought as he looked into her eyes. _Roy doesn't deserve her. _Jim had never thought this way about someone he had only met a few weeks before. Every time he made her laugh was a little victory for Jim, and one day he hoped she felt the same way about him that he felt of her. Their pleasant vigil stopped when Michael proclaimed,

"Ok, listen up everybody I have decided to renew the same health care plan as we did last year. A Memo will go around later telling you of the specifics of what the health care plan offers." Michael announced.

"I personally, don't see the point of healthcare. It's not how the natural world works. If you get hurt, it's your fault and you have to pay the consequences." Dwight said, in a stuck-up manner.

"That's ridiculous Dwight, the only person here who has ever made it without healthcare I would say would be Stanley, and everyone needs healthcare. What do you know?" Michael responded, tactlessly.

Stanley looked up after he heard this comment. "Why, would you say that Michael. Is it because I am black?"

"How dare you Stanley. How could you think I would mean that? You, sir are gross." Michael told him dramatically, before retreating into his office. At this overreaction, Jim raised his eyebrows at Pam, who did the same to him. Jim heard Phyllis say to Stanley after the sound of Michaels door slamming subsided, "He is ridiculous, I still don't understand how he got that job."

"I don't either. I don't understand what corporate were thinking." Stanley returned to Phyllis.

The memo never got around the office, as 5 O'clock rolled around before Michael found time to. Jim, was getting ready to leave, before turning around and facing Pam who was looking at him. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. "Have a good night Pam."


	5. Jims Birthday

_**Your desk mate Dwight**_

_Yakoas 59_

_Chapter 5: Jim's birthday_

Jim was pulling into the Dunder Mifflin office parking lot and looked at his watch which read 8:57AM. As he parked, he looked into his car mirror and straightened up his tie, before opening his car door and walked into the office. He greeted the security officer, whose name was still a mystery to him. He nodded back.

Jim hoped that the whole day could just go smoothly, so he could celebrate his birthday with his friends after work. The last thing he wanted was for Michael to find out about his birthday and make a big fuss. As he got out of the elevator, Jim looked through the door to Dunder Mifflin, and the office was pitch black. He was confused. It was a couple of minutes until work started, people should be in by now. _Oh, no._ Jim realised. _They must have found out it's my birthday. _Jim stared at the door for a few long seconds, before regretfully stepping through.

"Surprise!" yelled the office as they sprung out of their hiding places. Jim pretended to look surprised as everyone surrounded him. "Hahahahaa JIMBO man we totally got you!" Michael said, very over excitedly. He put his arms around him and said, "Happy birthday buddy. My young apprentice is growing up."

After this awkward encounter, Jim stood in front of his co-workers and said, "Well, I can't say that I wasn't surprised. This is really great you guys. Now let's get to work." He went to sit down, dreading the day to come. He regarded his fellow co-wokers get back to their desks. _Well, today is now going to be interesting._

An hour later of pretending to be on sales calls and responding to e-mails, Oscar came to Jim's desk.

"Hey, Jim happy birthday, everyone in the office got you a card." He told him, handing him a card. It had an inappropriate picture on the front of Jimbo from the Simpsons.

"Michael, right?" Jim asked Oscar, who nodded back.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Michael said that it was the only card in the store."

Jim looked in the card, and he immediately saw the message Michael wrote, which was in larger writing. It read, "Happy birthday, slim Jim, my #1 beanpole brotha. You're my Bracelet bro for life! By the way, we gotta have drinks sometime." Jim cringed at this message. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Pam walk slowly up to him.

"Hey." Pam said as she stood in front of him. "Happy birthday." She smiled, handing him a box. Jim watched her walk over to her desk before opening the box. Inside, was an air horn, a perfect drawing of Dwight, and the Nike basketball shoes he had been wanting for a long time. He couldn't believe that she got it for him. It must have cost over $100. He beamed, and mustered the courage to walk over to Pam, and hugged her. They held the hug for a while, and Jim could hold it forever. Her hair smelled of Lemon shampoo and her slight perfume made him want her even more. They eventually broke away and Jim told her,

"Thanks Pam. This is great." Gesturing to the box full of goods as he studied her face. He noticed that her face had turned slightly pink, and she struggled to meet his eyes when she responded,

"No problem, you are a great friend. There's a note in their by the way." Jim looked, and found the note, labelled _Jim. _Jim decided to sit down on the sofa chair by the side of Michael's office and read the note. He felt Pam's eyes on his neck as he began to read;

_Jim,_

_It's funny how it has only been 3 weeks and you are already my best friend in the office. Before you came here, I was so close to blowing my brains out from boredom. You've changed the office so much, you don't even know. Thank god Michael has taken a liking to you, he doesn't speak as much to me anymore as he is too busy talking to you. How about we go down to Cugino's for lunch? I know you don't want Michael and Dwight to pester you all day. Have a great day._

_Pam x_

Jim stared at the message for a few seconds before looking up at Pam, and smiled at her. It was a nice gesture, but as he saw the words, "my best friend in the office," he felt a feeling of dread, and his stomach tightened. He knew from the beginning that he wanted to be more than friends with Pam. She was everything that he wanted for a long time. It was depressing that he had to be around her without actually _being _with her.

However, he felt a longing feeling of hope, when Pam asked him to lunch in the letter. Little moments with her kept him going throughout the day and made him optimistic that one day they could be together. He went up to Pam's desk and asked, "Cugino's at 12:30?"

"Only if you're paying." Pam told him, smiling.

"Deal." Jim said, ecstatic over this new revelation. He went to sit down to work, but he couldn't concentrate in anticipation for lunch with Pam. It was what he had wanted ever since he arrived at Dunder Mifflin. Dwight interrupted his thoughts when he said,

"I forgot to wish you a happy Birthday Jim."

In shock, Jim suspected Dwight was up to something when he responded uncertainty, "Thanks Dwight."he opened up the present, and a rock came flying out of it. Luckily, Jim moved his head out of the way at the approaching rock.

"There's the charm Dwight." Jim said, happy he saved himself from embarrasment. He made a note to play a prank on Dwight later.

"No problem, it was the least that I could do Jim. I hope you have a rock solid day." Dwight said, unable to keep out his chuckling. Jim looked over at Pam, who was smiling at this conversation. Jim sent her an angry-face on their IM chat in result of this conversation, which made her laugh. _She's got such a great laugh._

"Hey man, how has your day been going there?" Michael asked Jim, scratching his head trying to make a conversation, which Jim had realised that Michael struggled to do.

"Good thanks, how is things with you." Jim responded, before noticing a saddened look on Michael's face. "Is anything wrong?"

"Wrong, no best shape of my life. Never been better." Michael responded uncertainty, before striking up a one-way conversation with Stanley. Jim decided to go up to reception and asked Pam, "Michael isn't being his usual self today."

"He hasn't made a single that's what she said joke today. There must be something wrong. He got a call from Jan a few minutes ago, but I don't know what it was about." She said, continuing her game of FreeCell solitaire.

"Bottom right, you've got a-"

"Good one." Pam told him, as they continued to play together.

"What are you doing?" Dwight asked the two of them. "Solitaire is a game that you play alone, two players is cheating."

"Is that so?" Jim asked.

"I'm going to write you both up for not working, you shouldn't be playing games during business hours." Dwight revealed.

"Why are you not working Dwight? I thought 11 O'clock was busy time." Asked Pam, raising her eyebrows. Dwight inspected the pair before responding,

"Fine, well played. I do have my eye on you though." Dwight told them creepily. Jim pretended to shiver at that admission, as did Pam.

An hour later, Jim went up to Pam's desk at reception and asked her, "you ready?" Putting on his coat.

"Yeah, let's go. "She responded, and before they walked out of the door they were confronted by Michael.

"Hey, where are you guys going?" Michael asked them.

"I'm taking Jim to lunch at Cugino's." Pam told him, opening the door to leave.

"Nice. " Michael said to Jim, "My boy, getting lucky I presume?" Jim and Pam stared at Michael after this insensitive and embarrassing comment, and then left the office without a word. Jim could hear Dwight telling Michael, "I'll go to lunch with you Michael."

"10 dollars says that Michael takes Dwight to Hooters." Jim said to Pam, making her laugh at the thought of Dwight and his beady face in that distinctive restaurant.

"You been to Cugino's before?" Pam asked Jim whilst in the elevator.

"Yeah, I have it's been a couple years though since I last went. It's great."

"It's good to get out of that god awful office." Pam exclaimed to Jim.

"Yep." He smiled at her as the elevator door opened and they got off on the ground floor.

...

Two awesome hours later, Jim and Pam walked out of the elevator door laughing with each other, and began to slowly walk towards the Dunder Mifflin office. "Jim, oh my god, the dundies are next week." Pam said, excitedly. She noticed the puzzled expression on Jim's face. "You don't know do you. Michael hosts an award ceremony every year, and gives out prizes to everyone in the office. Well, everyone except Toby."

"Just as I thought that this job couldn't get more interesting." Jim said to her. "I find out that."

They continued their conversation together, and sat down at their desks.

"Where have you been?" Dwight asked Jim forcefully.

"Lunch." Jim responded, flicking through his emails which he had missed.

"Jim, you were gone for 3 hours. I don't think that you should spend that much time out of the office."

"Good for you Dwight," Jim said, putting his hand on his shoulder teasingly, "You're a good friend," Jim said, smiling at him.

"Urgh, you're so immature Jim," Dwight said, shaking Jim's hand off, "just leave me alone and do your work."

Jim spent the next few hours making sales calls, or at least was pretending to. Lunch with Pam might have been one of the best dates he had ever been on, and yet she would not even consider it a date. There was a connection between them that he had never felt before. _She must feel it too right? _Jim, sighed and met Pam's eyes. She was warmly smiling at him, and he smiled back. His heart fluttered in his chest and he couldn't breathe. Jim had never felt so conflicted in his life. He wanted her, but yet he couldn't have her. Her gaze was like a knife poking his stomach, making his heart stop. _Holy shit she's beautiful. _

"Pamela, Morgan Beesly is there any messages?" Michael asked Pam, in a very bad posh English accent, disturbing Pam and Jim's longing gaze.

"No." Pam told him, not looking up from her desk.

"Are you sure?" Michael asked her, confused. "I haven't had a message all day."

"Positive."

"How did lunch go with Jim by the way? You have a good time?" he asked her.

"Yeah, we ate the same thing." Pam, said unwilling to go into specifics with Michael.

"That's what she said." Michael said instinctively, making Pam roll her eyes and Jim sigh loudly.

"What? You have to admit that it was a good one." Michael said to the silent office, who were not amused by his comment.

"I thought it was funny Michael." Said Dwight, grinning at him, loyally.

"Well, of course you would Dwight. " Michael told him, making Jim laugh and catch Pam's eye.

_Not a bad day after all._

**Please Review**


	6. Michael

_**Your desk Mate Dwight**_

_Chapter 6: Michael_

**Note: **_**I would love to hear what you guys think of the story so far and what I should do in future chapters. Let me know!**_

Michael Scott was excited as he strolled into the office. It was Jim Halpert's birthday and they had organised a surprise party for him. Michael had told everyone in the office to get into the office 20 minutes early so they could set the surprise up. He saw Pam, and Catherine the Customer Service rep, talking at Pam's desk.

"Hey guys are you ready?" Michael asked them, eying up Catherine. Thinking, _she wants me bad._

"Yeah, "Pam responded as Catherine left.

"She wants me bad." Michael told Pam, watching her leave. Pam rolled her eyes at this obnoxious comment. It was obvious that Catherine hated Michael. "We are going to get Jim so bad." Michael said to her. "It's going to be like the Surprise party, you know with like Colin Ferguson."

"What?" Pam responded, confused as what Michael was on about.

"You've never seen- never mind." Michael said to a confused Pam. He walked into his office, and observed his array of toys on his desk which he only liked one way, he was lucky that the cleaning ladies rearranged them every day. He spent the next few minutes fiddling with his toys, until Oscar went into his office and told him, "Michael, Jim is pulling into the office now."

"Ok," Michael responded, before going into the office. "Battle stations everybody!" Pam, went to turn off the lights, and Michael went with Oscar and Meredith to the conference room and watched him walk into the office building. "He has no idea." He said to them, who both smiled. As they saw Jim disappear from view, they moved to the door of the conference room and waited for Jim to walk in.

About 2 minutes later, Jim walked into the office, and a mass of streamers and yells erupted from the room. There was a vague expression of shock on Jim's face and he jumped a little. "Hahahahah Jimbo man we totally got you!" Michael exclaimed as he put his arms awkwardly around Jim, who didn't respond. Michael got a glance of Pam, who was laughing openly at this, made Michael more confident to make random noises in the wake of the noise of the surprise.

After everything had died done, Jim made an announcement to the office. "Well, I can't say that I wasn't surprised. This is really great you guys. Now let's get to work."

Michael was happy with how his day was going. The surprise party for Jim had gone extremely well, and he was looking forward to his friend Todd Packer, joining the office in the next few days. He didn't know how Packer would react to his newfound relationship with Jim. His thoughts were interrupted by Oscar, who asked him to tell the sales staff to fill out their expense reports.

He forwarded some emails, and spent the next 20 minutes, bored in his office. He got a call, which he picked up. "Michael, Jan is on line 1." Pam told him.

"Ok, put her through." Michael asked her. He waited a few seconds before saying, "JAN JAN JAN what do I owe this pleasure."

"It's still me." Pam said. "Ok, Jan you are through with Michael."

"Hey Jan how you doing." Michael said professionally.

"Great Michael, thanks. I am just informing you with some news. Todd Packer is going to be staying at your branch for a few weeks longer than expected due to some problems he had on the road."

"Oh, is he alright?" Michael asked, concerned.

"Yes, but he is staying for the next couple weeks as your number two. That's it, Goodbye Michael."

"Bye, Jan." _Bleugh _Michael though, he didn't like Jan at all. She was cold, and had no sense of humour. He then realised, what was going to happen to Jim. He wasn't going to be able to sit in his old place meaning that he will have to sit in the annex, with Toby. He hoped that Toby didn't inflict his awfulness on him.

A day later, Michael was minding his own business, having a great conversation with Stanley about how his evening was like last night when his suit jacket was put over his face.

"What sup Mike, still queer?" Packer asked, pulling down his Jacket and fist pumping Michael.

"Pack man, you sir, are out of control!" Michael laughed, before continuing, "so what you been up to?"

"I've been busy BONING your mom." Packer said, before laughing hysterically. "So where am I sitting Mike?" He asked.

"Yeah, right here." Gesturing to Jim's desk, which he was sitting at.

"What?" Jim asked, confused.

"Who's this?" Packer asked Michael, gesturing to Jim.

"Jim, Jim Halpert I am the new sales rep." Jim said, putting his hand out for Todd to shake. Todd dived from his hand shake, before pinching him in his chest making Jim to feel insecure as Michael and Todd burst out laughing.

After their laughing subsided, Michael told Jim, "Packer is moving into your desk and you are going to be stationed in the annex."

"What." Jim asked in awe. Michael noticed that he instantly looked over to Pam, who had her eyebrows creased as she overheard this conversation.

"Sorry, Jim it is only for a few weeks as Packer is here." He told Jim regretfully, seeing his shocked expression. Michael wondered what was so bad about his moving, then realised it must be that he is going to be sitting with Toby. _Yeah that must be it._


	7. The Dundies

_**Your Desk Mate Dwight**_

_Chapter 7: The Dundies_

Today was a day that Jim was looking forward to and dreading. It was the Dundies. Pam told him all about it, and Jim was wondering what prize he was going to get. He suspected that it would be something inappropriate, and it could possibly be something that is linked to his weird 'relationship' with Michael.

Jim was staring at the wall in front of him in the annex, after a lousy day at work. Ever since he moved further away from Pam, his days had been worse. He only speaked to her a few times a day now, normally scheduling pranks on Dwight. His sales had gone up however, as he had been able to concentrate because he didn't have Pam in his line of sight.

"Hey, you ready?" asked Pam, standing behind Jim. "For the Dundies?!"

"Oh, God." Jim said, putting his head in his hands. "I don't think I am ready." Jim said dramatically looking at Pam. Pam smiled at him, before responding;

"C'mon Halpert, you were born ready." Pam said. Jim looked at her, before changing tact.

"Your right. Let's do this." Jim smiled, walking with Pam to the office, where Michael was getting everyone ready to leave for the Dundies.

"All right, you all ready? Let's go!" Michael announced, leaving with his co-workers reluctantly behind.

Jim was in a car pool with Kevin, Pam and Phyllis. Pam and Jim were the only two who were talking in a very awkward and long car journey. Pam nudged Jim when she noticed Kevin sleeping with his mouth open, making them both giggle silently. They arrived at Michael's 'beloved' Chillis 20 minutes later, startling a sleepy Kevin. Roy turned up in another car pool and walked over to them.

"Hey baby, how you doing." Roy asked Pam, kissing her on the cheek. This made Jim very uncomfortable, so he decided to strike up a conversation with Kevin about the 76ers. They walked into the restaurant where they saw Michael on the stage, getting ready.

After everyone got into their seats and settled Michael started the event. "Hello, everyone to the 1999 annual Dundies awards. I am your host, Michael Scott and my assistant Dwight Schrute is here is well. Drink as much as you want, it's going on the group tab. I want everyone to be completely wasted, lampshade on the head wasted by the end of the night." There was a silent and short flutter of claps, which gave Michael the confidence to start the event, with a asian sketch he called 'Ping'.

After a flurry of sketches which produced little laughs and a lot of awkward moments. Michael did his first award. "This award goes to one of the people who has an amazing personality in the office, and is one of our hardest workers. So….. The award for superb work goes to Staaaaaaaanley Huudson!" Stanley walked up to the stand, and had the microphone shoved in his face by Michael.

"So, thanks for this award Michael. It's better than my 'I Have a dream' award I got last year. That's it" Stanley concluded, walking back to his seat. Jim looked over at Pam, who was looking glum by Roy's side. Jim smiled at Pam, and she smiled slightly. Jim shook his head. He hated that expression on her face, he could tell that she was lonely.

The awards kept on piling in, with Oscar with the 'best Hispanic mathematician' award which made everyone feel a bit awkward.

"The next award, I think we can all see coming, the hottest in the office goes to Pam Beesly. GET ON DOWN HERE!" Michael announced.

Pam rolled her eyes at this, making it obvious that she didn't want to receive the prize and there was little to no applause. Roy didn't look happy but decided to pick up her award for her. Pam looked over at Jim, and rolled her eyes at him, due to what happend. Jim shook his shoulders at her, as it saying, _"What you gunna do?" _

The evening was a lot more boring that Jim had anticipated. He thought that it would be funny in an embarrassing sort of way. He had spent the whole night talking to Oscar, after Kevin decided to change seats so he could get a different view. Jim thought that Michael was a nice guy, but could not get a hint. He felt incredibly uneasy when he gave Catherine the tight ass award, which she refused to collect. He still didn't know that Catherine hated Michael.

Towards the end of the awards, Jim was waiting for his award. He hoped that it wasn't something as bad as he was expecting. He didn't have to wait long.

"The next award, goes to that guy. I am sure that you all know about, the tall good looking guy," Pam glanced over at Jim quickly. Michael continued. "Who has made such a great influence on the office. The award of…. Biggest influence goes to Jiiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmm Halpert!" He yelled into the microphone and the Chili's exploded with applause. Jim got up to receive his award, and looked behind him to see Pam smiling and cheering him on. This gave him the confidence to go up and shake Michaels hand before speaking, "Hey, everyone these past few weeks has been interesting to say the least, " Jim stated, making Pam and his other co-workers laugh. " Thanks Michael for MCing tonight, you've done a great job. I wanna say thanks for everyone for being so welcoming. Even Dwight." Jim said, getting a few more laughs, and a deadly stare from Dwight . "Thanks everyone." He concluded before sitting down at his seat, and grinning back at Pam showing him his award, to which she showed him hers.

An hour later, everyone was getting ready to leave for the night. Some of them were very drunk, like Meredith and Devin who got a little out of control. Jim walked out with Pam, who was alone as Roy left early as he got bored. "So what did you think of the Dundies?" Asked Pam, putting her arms out in a jazz hands style.

"I don't think I will ever be the same Pam. Actually, my award was better than I thought it would be." Jim responded, looking down at her making her smile.

"Yeah. I guess-"Pam started before hearing the honk of Angela's car. "That's Angela. I better get going."

"Oh, yeah definitely." Jim said, looking into her face in the dark light. She was beautiful, and he lost his breath at the sight of her. "Have a good night Pam."

Pam put her arm on Jim's before responding, "I had a great night Jim, I'll see you tomorrow." She walked to Angela's car, and Jim watched every step she took to the car. He smiled to himself, as she watched them drive away.

It was little moments like that that kept him going. The only person he had admitted his feelings of Pam too was his roommate, Mark who had told him to sit tight and wait for the moment to tell her what he felt about her. That's exactly what he planned to do.


	8. Sales pitch with Dwight

_**Your Desk Mate Dwight**_

_Chapter 8: Sales Call_

Snow was falling thick and fast upon the Dunder Mifflin office. It was that time of year when the joys of summer had been completely forgotten and replaced by the overwhelming feeling of cold.

Jim Halpert had just been called into Michael's office, for a reason that was unknown to him. He walked away from his confinement in the annex into the open office, where Michael was stationed. He nodded hello to Pam as he walked into Michael's office.

He got himself comfortable, and looked at Michael who was staring at him. "Hey, Michael what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well, Jim I have some good news. You are now going to be doing a sales call, with another employee. Who is it you must be presuming. "Michael said before continuing, "Drum roll please." Tapping his hands on the desk dramatically. This happened for a while before Dwight entered the office. "It's Dwight Schrute!"

"Oh for the love of God." Jim said quietly to himself.

"Really, Michael Jim. You know how much I despise him." Dwight said fiercely zooming into Jim and refusing to sit down.

"Well, I think you guys have got to get along, I know you got off to a bad start, but If you just go along on this sales call, I think that you would become great friends." Michael speculated. "You are leaving in 10 minutes. So buckle up it's going to be a bumpy one!"

Jim and Dwight were getting ready for their first ever sales call together in a rather unpleasant few minutes. So he could get away from Dwight, Jim had a conversation with Pam about this current revelation. "Well, I am going on a sales pitch with Dwight."

"What?" Pam said in shock, "No way. Just the two of you?"

"Yep. Pam." Jim asked.

"Yeah, what."

"I've never been more afraid in my whole life," Jim said making Pam giggle.

"Have fun." Pam said, giving him a smile.

"I'll try to."

"Hey, Jim just before you go, let's have a photo of the two of you to remember this special day." Michael said calling Jim over. He took the picture after several failed attempts before finishing with a smiling Jim and a serious-looking Dwight.

"Dwight, I am never going to forget this day." He said, smiling to him, teasingly.

"You're such a girl Jim." Dwight told him tactlessly, concerned with Jim's admittance.

"Well, that's sexist." Jim noticed before telling him. "Hey, Dwight let's go."

The pair walked out of the office like action heroes, and Jim gave a small wave to Pam as he left. "Have a fun time guys." Pam called out to them.

"Don't worry Pam. I've got this." Dwight told her, walking through the door and letting it shut without holding it open for Jim. "Jim, let me do the talking alright, I am the better salesman."

"Sure you are Dwight." Jim told him, putting his hand on his shoulder. Pam heard this comment through the door and grinned to herself.

…... 

Two hours later, Jim and Dwight returned to the office. The time was about 1:20PM. "Michael!" Dwight called. Michael ran out.

"How did it go?" He asked the pair, who were both all smiles.

"We rocked it! Woooooooo!" Dwight yelled high fiving Michael but refusing to do so with Jim. "I think that we could have done better, if only Jim didn't talk as much." He said, accusingly to Jim and changing expression.

"Well, that's not technically true." Jim said, concerned.

"That does not matter, what does matter is that you made the sale. I am proud of you guys." Michael told them, retreating into his office, happy with his judgment. Dwight went up to his seat and continued his work. Jim decided to walk up to Pam's desk and strike up a conversation.

"Hey." Jim said.

"Hey. How did it go with Dwight?" Pam asked him, stopping work to talk to Jim.

"Great, we had a romantic meal, drinks, talked about our feelings-"Jim said, getting interrupted by Dwight.

"That's not true-"Dwight said. Pam looked over at him, ignoring him then asked Jim teasingly,

"Did you get lucky?"

"Oh, I wish." Jim said making Pam laugh. "I better get back to work." He said gesturing to the annex.

"Ok, see you later. " Pam said. Jim smiled to himself as he walked away. He decided to quickly ask Michael, "Hey Michael, do you know when I am moving back to my old desk?"

"Uh, tomorrow. Packer hasn't turned up the last few days, but I let it slide. He's done so much for this company. The office feels weird with you in the annex." Michael told him, awkwardly shaking his shoulders. Jim decided to take this as a compliment.

"Thanks Michael. Yeah, I'm looking forward to getting back here." Jim said, pointing to his desk. What he was looking forward however was spending time with Pam, but he wasn't going to tell Michael that. He still couldn't really admit it to himself yet.

"See you on the moly." Michael said, walking into his office to pretend to work. Excited by this new revelation, Jim went to tell Pam the good news. She was drinking coffee and she had an expression of boredom on her face. She noticed him walk over to her, with a huge smile on his face.

"Hey, what you so happy about?" Pam asked as he reached her desk and put his elbows on it so he could be closer to her.

"Um….. Nothing but I am moving back to my old desk!" Jim surprised her, making her smile in eagerness.

"No way! That's great. Can't wait to have you back. I can finally have someone else to talk to than Michael and Packer. It's been awful." Pam told Jim, grinning slightly and secretly incredibly excited that he is back at his own desk. "So what do you have in store for Dwight?" She asked him, looking into his eyes, which he did the same.

"Only….Everything." He told her, making her chuckle.

"So, what is the main ones you have in mind?"

"Well, the main one that I am very proud of is, I am recruiting Dwight into the CIA." He said, passing her a folder full of information. Pam, looked through it and her eyes lit up.

"Wow, Halpert you have really outdone yourself this time."

"Pam, there is one more step in the process. I want you to call Dwight and tell him to meet in the CIA headquarters."

"On it." Pam said, with a lot of enthusiasm, before reaching for the phone and saying, "CIA this is Pam."

"Nice, I'll see you later." Jim said, returning to the annex. He smiled to himself. He noticed the glint in here eye when he said that he was moving closer to her. He had however made a surprising friendship with Toby. They had been all alone in the annex after Catherine quit, and had quite a few pleasant conversations. He didn't know why Michael hated him so much, but who knew what went through the brain of Michael Scott.


	9. Pam and Christmas

_**Your Desk Mate Dwight**_

_Chapter 9: Pam II/ Christmas_

It had been quiet on Roy and Pam's ride to the office. Normally, they would speak a few words together, but today they said nothing to each other. They had a fight the previous night, because Roy didn't get her anything for their anniversary. They hadn't talked since.

…

Pam was playing Solitaire for the millionth time, and she had become very good at it. She looked over to Jim, who was talking to Dwight about his farm. She overheard Jim saying, "So you sell beats to local…" before zoning out. She hadn't noticed that she had been staring at him, when Michael called her. She picked up.

"Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam."

"Hello, Pamela. Get your ass in my office." Michael articulated. Pam immediately walked into Michael's office and helped herself into a seat.

"Well, Pam I have a bit of a dilemma. Since we only have the budget for one party, we are going to have to choose between the milleminum party and the Christmas party."

"Why can't you just have them both at the same time? Like a milleminum themed Christmas or something." Pam responded, wondering what was the point of Michael calling her into his office.

"Do you know this place at all Pam? You know that isn't what they want. They want fun, and booze and sex! That might not happen if they only have one party." Michael asserted, accusingly.

"Michael, that really is the best option. But I can't make your decision for you," she said, looking at Michael, knowingly "So can I get back to work?"

Michael sulked before saying, "Yeah, but can you send Jim in here please."

"Sure." Pam responded, getting out of the chair and walked to Jim, who was filling out some expense reports. "Hey." She said, disturbing Jim from his boredom. He looked up and smiled at her. "Michael wants to see you in his office." She saw his face drop.

"What does he want?" Jim asked her, obviously disturbed.

"I dunno exactly, but he saw me because he couldn't have a Christmas and a milleminum party."

"Wow that is very important. I better be in there immediately." He said, walking up and opening the door, whilst doing a little grin at Pam as he did so. Pam overheard Michael say, "Well, Jimbo I am tasking you with telling your co-workers that they will only have one party this month." She smiled, wondering what Jim would respond with. She heard him say,

"Well, I don't think that is something that I am going to do. I do think that Dwight would be great for this." Jim said, walking out in one motion after telling Michael this. "Hey, Dwight buddy, you're up." Jim told him. Dwight didn't even have to ask, he just ran into Michaels office. This made Pam giggle to herself at this neediness for affection.

…

_2 weeks later_

The Christmas party was in full swing. Meredith was passed out in the cupboard, but that was pretty standard when it came to Meredith and Christmas parties. Pam was speaking to Jim, when Dwight made an announcement, "It is time for secret Santa everyone! Get yo asses under the tree!"

Everyone was sat down in a circle, getting ready to receive their gifts. Pam looked to her left and saw Jim, who had a melancholy expression on his face. She wondered what was wrong. She made a mental note to ask him about it later. Pam had gotten Oscar for secret Santa. She had gotten him a new coffee mug, with a picture of Neo from the Matrix on it. She knew that he loved that movie as he kept on referencing it ever after he saw it in the cinema.

Jim was the first person to receive a present, and it was a knitted jumper, with his name on the front. He was delighted with this present, and gave Phyllis a high five. Pam smiled at this. Everyone loved Jim, he was funny and sweet and Pam enjoyed being with him. She beamed at him when he did this, and he gave a casual grin back.

20 minutes passed and secret Santa was finished. Michael had gone way overboard with the whole event, and had given Creed a $300 bike, when the limit was $15.

…

Pam was stood next to Roy who was in a heated discussion with Darryl about the Atlanta Hawks. Roy hadn't noticed Pam within the last 5 minutes, and Pam saw Jim looking lonely, sitting by himself in the office. She decided to go up and talk to him. "Hey, how are you enjoying the party?" She asked him.

"Yeah, it's great you've outdone yourself this time Beesly. I think Meredith is enjoying herself." He said, gesturing to Meredith's dangling legs out of the cupboard. Pam laughed, before noticing his dark expression.

"Is there anything wrong?" Pam asked, concerned about him.

"Well…Um yeah actually," Jim said, his eyes tearing up. Pam put her arm on his and said,

"What is it, you can tell me." Jim looked into her eyes, grateful for her presence.

"It's just, one of my best friends from high school died yesterday, in a car accident." Jim said, sadly looking at the floor. Pam was lost for words, she didn't know what to say to him, and so she stood in front of him, and pulled her arms out. Jim stared at her for a moment, his eyes watered up and he hugged her with a lot of force. Pam was surprised as she heard him holding back tears, before breaking away.

"Jim I'm so sorry." Pam said, feeling her face heat up after that warm embrace. She saw Roy walk up to them and said angrily,

"What you playing at Halpert?" Pam looked at him crossly, at this incompetent remark.

"Roy, his friend died." Pam told him softly. At this, Roy's expression changed.

"Oh, Man I had no idea, I am so sorry." Roy told him, looking generally concerned. Jim couldn't meet his eyes as he responded,

"Thanks man, it came as a shock, you know….. He seemed invincible I could never see him dead. I might go home early, to think over it. I only just found out." Jim said.

"Yeah man, totally do that." Roy said, awkwardly going back to his conversation with Darryl. Pam looked at Jim, and held his arm as he struggled to hold back tears.

"Jim you don't have to be here, I'll tell Michael and cover up for you alright." She said, as she gestured to Michael who was downing vodka with Kevin, oblivious to everything around him. Jim looked at her longingly and said,

"Thanks Pam." Jim walked straight past him, and out of the office building. Pam watched him go. She was sad to see Jim like this. He was normally confident, hilarious and easy to speak to. She didn't notice it yet, but she was beginning to seriously like him.

She saw Michael running around the office, and realised that she wouldn't have to cover for Jim after all.

**Please Review**


	10. Jim's Christmas

_**Your Desk Mate Dwight**_

_Hey, guys I just want to say thanks for reading the story so far, it's really been fun to write and I plan to do it for quite a while. I do however have Exams which will prevent me from posting Chapters as often as I have been. Tell me how to improve the story! Thanks_

_Chapter 10: Jim's Christmas._

Jim Halpert was having a splendid day in the Dunder Mifflin Scranton Office. He had made several sales over the day, which had boosted his commission and could mean that he would get a larger Christmas bonus than first anticipated. Apart from the part where Pam had a boyfriend, everything was turning up Halpert.

Jim looked at his watch. It read 12:14PM, Jim was wondering when Michael was going to start the Christmas party. Pam had told him all about what happens in the Christmas parties at Dunder Mifflin, and Jim was excited to see how it was all going to go down this year as it was the last Christmas of the millennia. He hoped that it was as good as cracked up to be.

Jim received a call, which he picked up instantly,

"Jim Halpert." He said professionally. He was surprised to see that it was his Mom who called him. She didn't call him very often at work,

"Hey, Jimmy I'm calling because-"she started.

"Mom, what is it?" Jim answered, concerned by the way she sounded.

"Your friend Julian passed away." She told him, straight up. She waited for a response, which she did not get. Jim couldn't believe what he had just heard. Julian had been his best friend in high school, they had played together on the basketball team but Julian had always been the better player. Jim's mom said in the light of Jim's silence,

"He was with his Girlfriend on the highway, in the passenger seat, when they swerved off the road from a reckless driver in the wrong lane. They both didn't make it." She said, before continuing, "Honey, if you want to talk, your father and I are here for you."

Jim's Mom hung up, which left Jim to his own thoughts. Jim didn't work for the next hour. He didn't know what to do, he considered going home but he didn't want to torture himself over it. He wanted to be around others, mostly Pam who could take his mind away from what he was just told.

35 minutes later, Michael called everyone under the tree for Secret Santa. Jim got the first gift, which was a knitted oven Mitt, with his name on it. Jim appreciated the effort that Phyllis put into it and gave her a high five and said, "Nice one, Phyllis I am going to use this all the time." Jim noticed Pam smiling at him, to his right. Jim caught himself staring at her, her smile back gave him Goosebumps.

…

The party had started to heat up. Jim caught Michael having an argument with Toby about the fact that he brought in Vodka and beer for the party. Jim was sitting by himself, feeling very distraught. He wondered if staying was the right decision after all. He noticed Pam walking towards him, with a Santa hat on her head, which Jim couldn't handle how cute she looked in it.

"Hey, how are you enjoying the party?" Pam asked him, sitting beside him on the desk.

Jim responded, smiling "Yeah, it's great you've really outdone yourself this time Beesly." Jim looked at her face, and she looked concerned.

"Jim, is anything wrong?" She asked him gently, putting her arm on his. Jim felt less wary of this than he would normally be, when he responded,

"Well…Um yeah actually." Jim said, gazing into her eyes, grateful that he was talking to her rather than Michael or Dwight about what he was about to say.

"You can tell me." Pam said, looking at him softly.

"It's just, one of my best friends from high school died yesterday, in a car accident." He told her, wondering how she would react. Jim was happy that he had told her. He looked at the floor for a minute, and when he looked up he saw her arms out in front of her. His heart was beating heavily in his chest, which made time seem to slow down as he put his arms around her quite forcefully, holding back tears. It still didn't seem right that Julian had died at 21 years old and he held back his tears with all his strength. They held each other for about a minute, Jim appreciated her warmth. Normally he would feel triumphant about this, but now his head was just full of memories of him and Julian.

Jim and Pam broke apart and looked at each other. He saw Roy walk in from the annex, with an angry expression on his face, "What you playing at, Halpert?!" Pam looked at him angrily and responded,

"His friend died, Roy." She said. Jim wasn't paying attention as the conversation continued. He wanted to get out of the office as soon as possible. Everything was fine until Roy turned up. Pam seemed to understand what he was thinking and said, "Jim you don't have to be here, I'll tell Michael and cover up for you alright." she gestured to Michael who was downing vodka with Kevin, oblivious to everything around him. Jim looked at her, and was very thankful for her saying that. She seemed to be getting better and better, if that was even possible.

"Thanks Pam." Jim said, as he walked out of the Office. He wanted to be away from it all, but he also felt sad that he wasn't going to see Pam and the rest of the office for another 2 weeks because of Christmas and the New Year.

…..

It was the 28th of December and Jim was with his roommate Mark, in a bar. It was 10:48PM. Jim was having a great time. He had spent a few days feeling down after Julian passed away, but Mark did a lot of stuff with Jim to take his mind away from it. Out of the corner of his eye, Jim saw Pam sitting down at the other end of the bar. Jim almost spilt his drink and nudged Mark. "Dude, that's Pam." He said, sneakily pointing to Pam. Mark looked at her and said,

"No, really that's her? Dude, she's hot." He said, admirably. Jim pointed towards Roy, who was walking into the bathroom.

"And that's her boyfriend." Jim said, nodding towards Roy.

"Crap, he's big man. I don't wanna mess with him."

"We are going over there. Act natural, don't give too much away, a'ight?" Jim told him, looking for confirmation. Mark nodded, which proceeded to them walking up to Pam.

"Hey." Jim said casually, taking the seat beside Pam. She looked over at saw it was Jim, which made her exclaim,

"Hey! Jim! How are you doing?" She said, grinning widely.

"I'm great, um Pam this is Mark, my roommate, Mark this is Pam." He introduced them to each other. Pam smiled and shook his hand, and Mark tried to look as calm as possible as he did so back.

"So, how does Pam Beesly find herself at the three olives bar at 11 O'clock at night?" Jim asked her, taking a sip of his drink. Pam responded,

"Well, I am just sitting here. Roy is meeting some of his pick-up basketball friends, so I tagged along." She said. Jim was biting hid lip in anger. _How could a guy just leave a girl like Pam alone in a bar? _He really did not deserve her.

"Okay, he just left you here." He responded, riskily. He noticed the look in her eye, when she knew that tone in his voice. She looked sad as she responded,

"Yeah." There was a silence for a second, before changing the subject, "How was your Christmas?"

"Great, a lot better than I thought it would be, with Julian and all. I spent the time with my family, had a lot of fun actually." Jim said, smiling at her. "I do miss messing with Dwight though."

"Yeah, me too. The only bad thing about holidays is not playing pranks on him." Pam said, matter of factly. Not wanting to bump into Roy, Jim said to Pam, "Me and Mark have got to meet some people soon, so we're gunna have to go."

Pam looked at him for a minute and said, "It's great to see you Jim. I'll see you at the office." Jim got up, finishing his drink,

"I'll catch you later, Beesly." He remarked, smiling warmly at her and walking out of the bar. Mark walked alongside Jim and once they got in the cab he said, "She seems great Man. You like her?" Jim looked back at him and said something he had only just realised himself, "Man, I love her."


	11. The year 2000

_**Your Desk Mate Dwight**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the office**_

_Chapter 11: The Year 2000_

Jim Halpert was pulling up into the Dunder Mifflin Scranton parking lot. He didn't know whether he was ready to go into the office. Being away from Pam for the last couple of weeks had been absolute torture for Jim, and the mental image of her smile kept him going through every day until work started. Jim was incredibly excited for the day of work, and that was something he would never expect him to say when referring to a paper company.

Jim checked himself out in his car mirror, before walking confidently into the office. There was as slight chill in the air, and he saw Oscar driving into the office, and by the look on his face he was obviously not looking forward to work as much as Jim was.

Jim held his breath when he saw the outline of Pam in her pink jumper through the Dunder Mifflin door. He mustered the courage to walk through the door and walked up to reception. He stood there a moment, and said to a unknowing Pam,

"Hi, stranger." Jim said flirtatiously. This got Pam to look over, and saw Jim standing there beaming at her. Her face curled into a smile when she saw him. She was even prettier than he remembered. She had that look on her face which Jim knew

that he had done something right. He wanted her to keep that smile forever.

"Hey, how was your new year?" she asked him, as Jim put his coat on the hanger.

"It was great, you know it was standard, partying, drinking and a 2000 tattoo on my back." He said, jokily. Pam laughed and said,

"That's great."

"Yeah, how was your new year's?" Jim asked, "Not in the three olives bar, I presume?" Jim said, referring to them bumping into each other after Christmas.

"No," She said, grinning. "Roy and I just went out with a couple we have known since high school."

"Sounds great, what did you guys get up to?" Jim asked, pleased that he was back where he liked, at reception, with Pam. There pleasant conversation was interrupted by Michael who had gotten out of his office.

"Woooaaaah! Jim Halpert in the house everyone." Michael announced, clapping by himself. "How was your new year, my young sir?"

"Great." Jim responded, not wanting to go into detail with Michael. Michael nodded at him before saying,

"Any new millennium resolutions?" Michael asked.

"Um, yeah I want to lose 10 pounds by the end of the year." Michael looked at him, as if he must be joking.

"Jim if anything you need to gain weight man, put some fat on you." Michael said, hitting Jim on the chest and making him very uncomfortable. He left and said, "Peace out, Seacrest!" leaving Jim and Pam alone.

"It's something to think about." Pam said, looking at him, jokily. Jim felt a little self-conscious after she said that, even though that he knew that Pam was just being playful with him. He always knew he was skinny, but he never saw it as a problem.

"Well, I better get to work. You up for lunch in the break room?" Jim asked Pam, just as when he was leaving.

"Sure, sounds good." Pam smiled.

….

* * *

Dwight had become incredible interested in Star Wars over the Christmas holidays, and had brought in a figurine of Han Solo. Jim had asked him why he had brought it in, which Dwight replied, "It's not any of your business Jim."

Naturally, Jim tried to think of a way to mess with Dwight. He then thought of the perfect idea. He planned to put his figurine in Jell-O. He had done this before with his brother Pete, where he put his baseball which he constantly bragged about, in the Jell-O. _This is perfect. _Jim thought, smiling to himself.

Jim was having a very busy day, trying to catch up with his work after his couple week break. He didn't even know it was the end of the day, until Michael said, "Quitting time folks! It's time for you all to leave, I will see you tomorrow."

Pam went up to Jim a few minutes later and asked, "Hey, Jim can you walk me out to my car? Roy's 'sick' so I have to drive my crappy old car."

Jim told her, "Can it wait, I am in the process of something right now."

Pam looked confused, as he was obviously not doing any work, "What are you doing?"

"I am putting this," Jim said, picking up the figurine, "In Jell-O for Dwight to see tomorrow."

Pam smiled at this and said, "That's a good one, he's been bragging about it all day."

"Yeah, and he hasn't been messed with in a while, we don't want him to be too confident."

Pam shuddered at this thought and said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, have a good night." Jim said, watching her walk out of the office. He sat down in his chair, before starting the prank.

…

* * *

It was a cold, and miserable Tuesday morning. Jim was walking into the office, accompanied by Pam, and Roy. Pam asked Jim about the prank he was planning to play on Dwight the night before.

"Yeah, you'll see." Jim said mysteriously, Pam raised her eyebrows at this, clearly excited about what was coming.

After saying goodbye to Roy, Jim and Pam walked up to the office. Jim took Pam by the arm and showed her Dwight's figurine in the Jell-O. Pam burst out laughing,

"No way! Jim you have a gift for this kind of thing." She said, making Jim smile.

"Thanks Pam, I try my best."

"Yeah, you know what?" Pam said.

"What?" Jim asked, looking at her.

"My resolution is to get better at pranking." Pam realised.

"Beesly, that's a great idea because if you are going to talk to me, you're going to have to get better at it." He said comically. Pam said flirtatiously,

"You better watch out, Halpert I'm coming for ya."

Jim watched her walk to her desk, biting his bottom lip. He enjoyed their flirtatious conversations, it made him think that she secretly like him.

As Jim had arrived slightly earlier than normal because of the prank with Dwight, it was a while for Dwight to arrive into the office. Dwight walked assuredly towards his desk, without a word to Pam or any of his colleagues. He stopped when he saw the plate of Jell-O on his desk, and his expression was of pure rage. "Dammit! JIM! I know it was you!" Dwight seethed, attracting a lot of attention. Michael heard this and said, "Dwight calm down, the commander n'chief is in session. What is going on?"

"Jim put my Han Solo collector's figurine in Jell-O." Dwight said, obviously very irate. Jim heard Pam laughing at this, and Michael thought that it was funny as well.

"How do you know that it was me?" Jim asked, acting as calm as possible.

"To be fair Dwight, you were bragging about it all day yesterday." Michaels said, nodding towards Dwight, who couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"One could say that Dwight did this to himself." Jim said, philosophically.

"Are you kidding?" Dwight exclaimed.

"Just let it go Dwight." Michael sighed, walking to the kitchen. After he left Jim caught Pam's eye and they did an air-five from across their desks. _Good start to the year. _Jim thought.

**Hit that Review button!**


	12. Jims sick day

_**Your Desk Mate Dwight**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the office.**_

_**Please leave a review. **_

_**Woddy54, I am going to try and make this story as realistic as possible, so there will be Jim&amp;Pam moments, but not that often. Thanks for reviewing!**_

_Chapter 12: Jim sick day_

Pam was sitting, jaded at her desk. She had stayed up late last night, waiting for Roy to get home after he went out with his high school friends. Pam didn't like his friends, they all lived off past glories and Pam didn't believe in that.

* * *

The phone rung, and Pam picked up the phone, and said "Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam."

"Oh, hey Pam it's Jim can I speak to Michal." Jim said, sounding under the weather.

"Sure, will do are you alright?" Pam asked, concerned about Jim.

"Not really, I think I have caught the flu. " Jim said, before continuing, "Have fun with Dwight today."

"Yeah, I'll try to. Ok, Jim you're on with Michael."

Michael picked up the phone, and said, "Hullo."

"Hey, Michael I have caught the flu, so I won't be coming into work today." Jim said, obviously very ill.

"Oh sure, I hope you get better. Was it Pam? You guys hang out a lot." Michael asked.

"No, it wasn't' Michael,"

"Hey, it's Devin's birthday on Thursday, so get better as everyone would love you to be there." Michael said.

"Oh, yeah I wouldn't miss that for the world. See you later Michael."

"Yeah." Michael said. Pam walked into his office, and casually asked,

"Hey, is Jim alright?"

Michael responded, "He might not be here for the next few days. He sounded pretty sick."

"Oh, ok. Thanks Michael." Pam said. She wondered what she was going to do. The days went so slowly without Jim around. She couldn't even remember what Dunder Mifflin was like before he got here.

Dwight paced into Michael's office after overhearing this conversation. "Michael, I would like permission to check up on Jim, just in case he is not in fact ill."

Michael stared at him, "I don't think Jim would lie about that, I don't know why you hate him so much."

"Yes, I might despise him but I believe that it's necessary to just check in on him. I'll do it in my lunch hour." Dwight said.

Michael didn't look sure about this, and after a lot of tossing and turning he said, "Ok, fine this is top secret don't tell anyone about this."

"You can trust me Michael."

Pam was about to die of boredom. She kept on replaying Free cell Solitaire on her computer. She stared at Jim's empty desk, missing him. She had found her thoughts drifting to Jim at weird times, like a couple of nights ago when Roy was watching the Eagles, who Jim liked to secretly watch when times were slow.

Just before Pam was about to have lunch, she saw Dwight preparing to leave the office. She asked him, "Dwight where are you going?"

"I'm going to bust Jim. That's what's going on Pam." He said sidled. Pam decided to let it go. Jim had enough on his plate already.

* * *

Jim was lying on his bed, when he saw a pair of headlights appear in his driveway. He wondered who it was, and as the doorbell rung Jim had to fight his way to the door. As he opened it, he realised that it was Dwight.

"Dwight, why in hell are you here?" Jim asked, confused.

"I came to check on you. I thought that you would be out, doing whatever you sort of people do." Dwight said, with authority.

Jim couldn't help but notice how much of an idiot he was, "What sort of people am I?"

"Jock, Skater I don't know. I'll tell Mi-"Dwight was interrupted by Jim shutting the door in his face.

"What an idiot." Jim mumbled to himself.

Pam was drawing a picture of Jim's car when she noticed Dwight walking into the office, looking rather distressed. Pam asked him, "How did it go Dwight?"

"Not, as expected Pam." Dwight said, looking worried.

Pam smiled slightly as she wondered what Jim said to him, "What happened?"

"He slammed the door in my face and called me an idiot. He was way out of line."

Pam laughed openly at this. Dwight gave her an odd look and said insecurely, "Jeez, Pam are you in love with him or something." Pam stopped laughing when Dwight said this, giving her a knowing look. Pam wondered if he was right. No, she thought. I like him as a friend, _I love Roy. _She had been going out with Roy since she was 17, they were meant to be together.

She couldn't help but think of Jim, and what he would be doing right now. He would probably be typing an e-mail, or messing with Dwight or giving her _that _look that she really liked. _No, no, no I am with Roy, stop thinking of Jim. _Pam thought. She decided to keep herself busy so she could stray her thoughts away from Jim.

She couldn't wait until he came back.


End file.
